HamsapSukebe

The raw came out a couple of weeks ago but I have already bought my ticket for Thermae Romae and its more fun watching movies in cinemas with fans. The Festival Director made a very interesting point in that the Japanese Film Festival is the only place outside of Japan where one can catch so many Japanese movies at one place and I have to agree as a fan of Japanese cinema. This year's line up is awesome and I guess I'm living in the right country outside of Japan for Japanese movies.

Anyways, Thermae Romae is a very funny movie, especially the first half and humour is basically the reverse of Jin. Instead of modern doctor going to the past, its an bathhouse architect Lucius, played magnificently by Abe Hiroshi going to the modern era and marveling at all our bath and toilet inventions. You can't go wrong with fish out of water comedy.

Lucius's trips to the future are short and he always runs into Ueto Aya who plays an aspiring mangaka. Everytime Lucius time travels, he goes back with new ideas and we see him trying to transplant modern stuff into ancient Rome to great comedy effect.

The movie slows down for me when it becomes about Ueto Aya's character traveling back to ancient Rome with Lucius. The relationship just does not work. Ueto Aya still looks like an 18 year old girl and all she does is try to act cute. I know its a comedy but they really need someone who can act and sell the relationship with what little screen time they share.

It could have worked better as a dorama series but getting the budget to do the Roman scenes would be tough. I love the Rome scenes. I was thinking where in Japan did they got so many gaijin extras until I released that it was shot in Italy. I like how the Romans get dubbed over in Japanese like a cheesy B grade movie and the director must have watched quite a few of those old Roman/Greek movies from the 70s and 80s cause its got that feel.

Thermae Romae is a very funny, if uneven movie which is hard to avoid given that there is not much time to develop the characters but someone needs to realise that Ueto Aya is not a good actress. You put Ueno Juri in there it becomes a better film. Lucius moping after Kitamura Kazuki told him he was a hack just felt so disjointed. Thermae Romae is a watchable comedy that tries to please too many people to the point that the narrative takes a back seat.

Need Abe Hiroshi kickass WOWOW action dorama.

Love the Bilingual sign as a funny way to get past the language barrier.

Key of life is an interesting character study comedy with its premise being an accidental prince and pauper type scenario; hitman and NEET end up switching lives when the hitman slips and gets knocked out at an bathhouse and the NEET steals his key. Added to the mix is a this meticulous and socially awkward editor, Mizushima Kanae played by Hirosue Ryoko.

In the beginning of the movie we see Kanae declare to her subordinates that she is planning to get married in too months and will need their help in finding a suitable husband. I've forgotten how good Hirosue Ryoko can be. Haven't seen her in movies/doramas since Villon's wife and Departures. Good acting is when you're watching a character and you can hear that character think. Hirosue Ryoko does that for the robotic Kanae.

The star of the show is definitely Kagawa Teruyuki as the hitman now believing himself to be an unemployed actor. Talk about layers in acting! This professional hitman, believing who has lost his memory believing himself to be this messy NEET and failed actor while trying to get his life up and running. Kagawa is always playing supporting characters but this time he really gets to show his acting chops.

Back to the character study comment. My favourite type of comedy is one where characters don't act like they are in a comedy. A seriousish show which is funny because people are put in absurd situations. The character study is about people pretending to be other people and by doing that actually peel off a layer of themselves. The best two scenes are when the three characters get together in a room and while the conversation is plot based, it doubles as commentary on the characters.

The one thing that fell flat for me was the ending. I can't really pinpoint why. I just had this not a generic useless guy saves the day feeling but that didn't happen and the ending was accidental. Can't really explain why I wasn't enamoured with it. Don't like the English title as well. The Japanese title Kagi no dorobo no method/Key Thief's method is a much fitting name because it has mutiple meanings in regards to the characters.

Very well written and acted comedy close in spirit to the classic Mitani Koki comedies. Can't say why I didn't like the ending but it straddles the boundary of good and must watch. I'll give it a nudge to must watch because its rare to see such well written comedies nowadays.

Where do I even begin. I've been thinking about this movie the past hour since I watched it. If you've been reading my blog, I absolutely love dark comedies and Dreams for Sale is a pretty good one. Abe Sadao and Matsu Takako play a couple Kanya and Satako who run a small izakaya. Tragedy happens and the izakaya burns down. Kanya turns into a drunk and Satako is working at a ramen shop.

At this point I'm thinking why is Matsu Takako playing another devoted wife ala Villon's wife? Just to see her finally explode on yet another useless husband? Kanya one night runs into a former customer who happens to be the mistress of a guy who just passed away. Sharing their sorrows, Kanya somehow ends up with the mistress' parting money.

Satako quickly figures things out and we quickly realise that she knows Kanya better than she knows herself. Satako realises that Kanya has a gift for seducing ladies by selling his story and dreams and sets him up with potential victims. Yes, Dreams for Sale is am Abe Sadao as a gigolo movie!

What follows are the couple trying to achieve their dream of owning their own restaurant again by taking advantage of the dreams of women wanting to get married and using Kanya's dedication to his dream to extract money. The husband and wife marriage rip off scam is a hoot but it becomes a movie more about the women that Kanya rips off.

The writer/director does an excellent job with making the heavy lifter character interesting but I just find the Kanya and Satako bits taking a back seat for the second half. Some of their dialogue is just too straightforward and it should be about using the various victims to express the stages in their relationship.

I can see why the writer wanted this to be more than just Kanya and Satako. She wanted it to be a movie about people who would do anything for their dreams to the point of not recognising right from wrong like the scene where the couple are commenting on the news about a couple who burned their kid. That was a great piece of dark comedy.

The writer wanted this to be about people who are quick to believe lies just so they can achieve their dreams of getting married. Dreams for Sale is about people who want to latch onto dreams of others because they want something to believe in. Not just Satako or Kanya's victims but also Kanya with the weight lifter.

However, wanting to explore the bigger picture or send a more direct message to the audience, the pacing of the story suffers. I can't fault the director for wanting Dreams for Sale to be more than a caper movie but I wanted more Abe Sadao and Matsu Takako scenes. It took me a while but I finally figured out the meaning of the finale scene of the movie writing this review.

Acting wise, Dreams for Sale is godlike. Abe Sadao is good but Matsu Takako rules this movie. She's got the Natsukawa Yui ability to express anger, sadness and disgust in the same look. As a piece of entertainment, Dreams for Sale is lacking is pacing but its not lame and boring like your typical pretentious arty movie. Its got great ideas and sometimes does it too clumsily but there are moments of beauty as well. A must watch only if you like dark comedies or would like to see Matsu Takako masturbate.

THE GOOD

- I love that it is equal parts dark and funny. A good balance between the anime and classic OVA Trust and Betrayal. If you've never seen Kenshin, just watch that OVA.
- The actor playing Kenshin does an awesome job.
- The dad from Hatsukoi did a great job playing Sagara Sonosuke.
- Some of the fighting scenes are kick-ass, especially the knife fight. I like how they use wires to make Kenshin move really fast.
- Probably the best action anime to live action conversion ever.

THE BAD

- Why isn't Aoi Yu Kaoru and an older actress Megumi?
- I wanted Saito vs Kenshin but alas there's only so much time. His little moment in the sun was lame but what can you do?

THE UGLY

- The Takei Emi speech that never stops. I keep imagining how her agent must be pressuring the writer to give her some stupid long ass climactic speech at the end. A simple, "Kenshin, you must not kill" by a good actress is enough to get the reasons across instead of this forced speech.

VERDICT

I went in ready to be disappointed after so many failed anime adaptations; *cough* 20th Century Boys, Yamato *cough*. This is one that is very faithful to the original and knows why Kenshin is so popular. I've got nitpicks but generally they did an excellent job. Pretty good movie and I want to give it a must watch but that Takei Emi speech killed the ending for me.

EPISODE 2

We get another interesting main character with Hirofumi Arai, Abe's subordinate from Going My Home playing a public safety cop who seems a bit detached, maybe a bit autistic. He is given menial jobs but he gives as much effort into his public safety work as someone investigating a murder. He's got detailed maps of the town, pictures of graffiti and information on things such as areas where there are insufficient lighting.

Episode starts of with Ito Shizuka's colleague at her combini job getting stalked. It was interesting and I really enjoyed Hirofumi Arai's character but I was wondering where it was leading anyway. There's a shocking reveal at the end which made me think there are some things worse than murder.

EPISODE 3

Not another new character! Not really new, the detective was at the end of episode one but every episode has had an interesting protagonist while Shizuka serves as the villain working behind the scenes. I'm interested to know what happened to the characters from eps 1 and 2 after their encounter with Shizuka.

The beginning of episode 3 is a great example of an efficient way to re-introduce your main character. He's on a stake out outside a love hotel, thus showing his job and then is stopped by two policemen who check his ID and give the audience some information about his past. Just a couple of minutes to establish who the detective is and on with the story.

All I got to say is poor fucker. He's trying to do his job, he is weighed down by his 'sacrifice' for the police force and in the end, he gets played around by Shizuka. This would not happen in your typical dorama. Episode 3 ends with a who the hell are those guys?

EPISODE 4

I love how sloppy the gun fight is. People don't die straight away and apparently its not so easy to shoot people behind cover. There is no main character in episode 4. Its basically Kodoku no Gurume turning out to be a cop investigating the crime scene and we see him piece the events together.

Shizuka changes her final plan when the yakuza's daughter comes out of the room. How good this dorama is depends on the last two episodes because the first 4 have not really been about Shizuka. She is this shadowy figure in the background. This ghost that all 4 characters are chasing but the audience knows little about.

I was high on the first two episodes but sadly, some flaws were pretty apparent in the third and final episode. Firstly, I must say the story is pretty good but I have three problems with ep 3. Firstly, way too much descriptive emotional descriptions, ie I'm feeling this because of a,b and c instead of showing the audience. Its always better to show than tell.

Secondly, there is something that happens which is totally against the concepts of doctor-patient confidentiality which I'm pretty sure exists in Japan. I know Kimura Tae's character really likes our homeless hero but it is so wrong how easily she agrees to see the kid and report everything to him.

Third is the directing which is not better than usual but just not up to the standard WOWOW levels. Yes, its an NHK dorama but I can't help comparing the directing to Hitori Shizuka which is definitely better. There is an action scene in the end which should have been very exciting but ends up being pedestrian.

Not hating on Tsugunai, just a bit disappointed with execution in the end. In the end still very watchable thriller. Love the twist, just kind of wished that WOW had made it instead.

I was intrigued by this Miike Takashi musical despite the fact Takei Emi is in it. I don't even think I've seen a Japanese musical before. The first thing I think of when I thinking of music and Japanese movies is Sakuran. That was a movie where the music was equally important is making it very good.

Ai to Makoto to me, is just so boring. Musical scenes which just feel unnecessary and long. Its basically Crows Zero with songs thrown in here and there that don't bring anything to the movie. The movie works better when the characters aren't singing. There's something to be mined there in terms of comedy with the violent Makoto and the proper ojousan Ai but there are not laughs and no chemistry.

Watching Ai to Makoto was a labour for me. I kept wishing I was high so I could have at least laughed during the boring musical numbers and the Crows Zero style trading punches fights. Avoid.

For some reason, this line got me really excited.

Great news, the first four episodes of Tokumei Tantei have been subbed. I gave the first three eps a must watch so what about the rest of the series. For me, I think it got a bit boring in the middle, especially compared with Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi. Part of the reason is maybe Ozaki Masaya (KDO,Shiroi Haru and Love Generation) is not involved in writing this. Its not nearly as fun.

I think the main reason is that it is a bit all over the place. You got a anime-like rich person house story, fake shaman story, touching woman who lost her memory story; stuff you can find in other doramas. Tadano Hitoshi had a central theme which was workplace/salaryman/company problems. Affairs, people leaking information, corporate blackmail etc, more adult type stories you don't usually see. I guess you could say that the middle episodes were pretty uneven in tone.

Its like why I always do all the sub missions in Yakuza/Ryu ga gotoku. There are not just beat the bad guys up missions. They are stories only available in the Yakuza world. Stories of hosts getting into trouble when their client can't pay, illegal Chinese immigrants hiding out in a secret town or girls spiking drinks.

Regardless, episodes 8+9 are a must watch for me. Episode 8 because its a great payoff. Tantei gets framed for a murder and the girls must band together and solve the mystery. It was fun watching the girls step into his shoes and stumble along. One of the easiest ways to make a dorama fun is just to give a supporting character his/her moment to shine in the end.

Episode 9 is the best episode of the series. The story is about the idol group with 5 members which operates similarly to AKB48; fans have to buy cds to be able to vote for the favourite girl who becomes the centre. I love the remark by Tantei-san that its no different from a kyabakura. The girl who gets nominated the most and earns the most money becomes no.1. This is what I'm looking for, more adult stories and perspectives. AKB48 is basically an idol kyabakura.

They really went all out for the budget of episode 9. It must cost at least double the normal budget with the extra idol props and extras. Not to mention that it was double the amount of fanservice. :)

Sadly, I can't give the whole series a must watch with the series getting slow for me in the middle. I would consider half the episodes pretty good and the middle ones weak. The fan service pushes the series to a very watchable one for me. If you like the screencaps, you'll definitely enjoy it. If you like Tokumei Tantei then you'll love Tadano Hitoshi.I apologise for going a bit overzealous with screencaps.

Lol. I think Tantei-san needed to be a more snarky character like this.

Lol.Poor fella.

Our candidates are.....

1) OZAKI MASAYA / 尾崎将也

- KDO
- Shiroi Haru
- Tokumei Kakarichou Tadano Hitoshi series
- Satorare
- Love Generation
- At Home Dad

He wrote two of the greatest jdoramas ever in KDO and Love Generation. He also wrote the crybabies pretending to be tough dorama Rookies but I'll ignore that since its a manga adaptation. This guy can write anything.

Ozaki Masaya can write Nojima Shinji snappy dialogue in KDO, funny adult dorama like Tadano Hitoshi and my favourite 90s trendy dorama Love Generation. He doesn't have a signature style that I can see except he is very good.

2. OKADA YOSHIKAZU / 岡田惠和

- Saigo Kara Nibanme no Koi
- Last Present
- Home Drama
- Algernon ni Hanataba wo
- Beach Boys
- Mada Koi Hajimaranai
- Iguana no Musume
- Ima Ai ni Yukimasu

Not bad nothing really stands out in terms of writing.

3. Kitagawa Eriko / 北川悦吏子

- Orange Days
- Beautiful Life
- One Million Stars fall from the Sky
- Long Vacation
- Aishiteru to itte kure
- Asunaro Hakusho

Probably the most famous writer due the her being responsible for big name trendy doramas. I love One Million Stars. However, she also wrote the abomination that was Tatta hitotsu no koi. To me, she is the least skilled in terms of writing and is just on the list because of her fame.

4. Nojima Shinji / 野島伸司

- Gold
- Love Shuffle
- Bara no nai Hanaya
- Aikurushii
- Pride
- Koukou Kyoushi 1993 and 2003
- Golden Bowl
- Hitotsu Yane no Shita 1+2
- SOS
- 101 Proposals
- Kono yo no hate

Look at that resume! This guy is god-like in his writing. Great snappy dialogue and he makes average doramas fun to watch.Nojima Shinji's has the most doramas which I consider must watch.

5. Sakamoto Yuji / 坂元裕二

- Soredemo Ikite Yuku
- Mother
- Chase
- Taiyo to Umi no Kyoushitsu
- Watashitachi no Kyoukashou
- Last Christmas
- Itoshi Kimi E
- Anata no Tonari Dareka Iru
- Tokyo Love Story

This guy is fucking good. Makete, Katsu should be must watch but I don't think anyone is subbing it. :( Ok, he did write Ryokiteki na Kanojo but let's forget about that.

6. Hashibe Atsuko / 橋部敦子

- Fumo Chitai
- Oishii Kankei
- Star no Koi
- Boku no Ikiru Michi
- Boku to Kanojo to Kanojo to Ikiru Michi
- Boku no Aruku Michi

Her doramas are more laid back and four of the above star Kusanagi Tsuyoshi. She's definitely the writer for his acting style. I love Oishii Kankei. Hashibe Atsuko definitely warrants some consideration. Love Oishii Kankei.

7. Furusawa Ryota / 古沢良太

- Always San Chome trilogy
- Kisaragi
- Gaiji Keisatsu + Movie
- Gonzo
- Aibo
- Suzuki Sensei + Movie

Fuck me. This guy is a genius. I can't wait for Gaiji Keisatsu and Suzuki Sensei movies!!!

8. Hayashi Koji / 林宏司

- Hagetaka + Movie
- Iryu 1-3

Unfortunately he also wrote Code Blue and Boss. Actually considering Hagetaka is based on a novel and Iryu is a manga, he shouldn't be on this list.

9. Aizawa Tomoko / 相沢友子

- Kagi no Kakatta Heya
- Guilty
- Shikaotoko Aoniyoshi
- Medaka
- Itsumo Futari De
- Koi no Chikara
- Yamato Nadeshiko

Not bad with Shikaotoko, Medaka and Yamato Nadeshiko. Certainly a solid writer and to think she started off as a singer!

10. Yukawa Kazuhiko / 遊川和彦

- GTO
- Oyaji
- Majo no Jouken
- Koi Ga Shitai x3
- Jyoou no Kyoushitsu
- Enka no Joou
- Kaseifu no Mita

Can't believe this guy wrote doramas as different as GTO, Koi ga Shitai and Jyoou no Kyoushitsu. I respect him for trying something difficult with Enka no Joou but Kaseifu no Mita has some crappy writing. Probably if Mita did not have such crazy ratings I would just consider a minor blip.

AND THE WINNER IS....

I can't decide. 4 way tie between Ozaki Masaya, Nojima Shinji, Sakamoto Yuji and Furusawa Ryota.

If you've got any writers that deserve to be on the list, let me know!

OMFG. I had a tear in my eye after watching this episode. A tear of fucking joy at having seen such a beautiful, kick-ass episode. If you are not watching Hitori Shizuka, what are you watching jdoramas for? Lots of spoiler talk and screencaps here so stop reading if you haven't and get right to it!

This whole series has been pretty much asking who is Shizuka? We get all these interesting characters who get caught up in her web but we don't get to explore them much. Its pretty much what's Shizuka up to next and episode 5 finally shows us who the whole sequence of events got started and it is mind blowing good.

I love how it comes full circle. Actually since ep 5 is a flashback, how the past shapes the present. Shizuka already using her body to get men to do her bidding at a young age. You could say its a learned response from watching her mother. She has equal amount of love and hate for her mother. Shizuka despises her mother because she latches onto strong men who turn violent on her and Shizuka I think has learned to use men like that but toss them away. At the same time, she wants her mother to be happy.

Does Shizuka know that the yakuza dude is her father? This gives her original plan of killing herself after offing him a whole new meaning. Was it revenge for Shizuka's mother getting abused and losing her hearing or was patricide revenge for the life Shizuka was born into? Or was it as she asked at the end, Shizuka trying to find out who she is. Was killing her father the end game she wanted after running away?

We don't find out who Shizuka is in episode 5. We find out what made her. The ending scene was the first time we see her smile. She could finally say what she wanted to say and it was to the point. Shizuka was finally free of this violent cycle her mother had brought her into and her purpose was not making the same mistakes her mother made and get them out of that life. Now that they were free, she had no responsibility to her mom and could go find herself.

The acting and directing in this episode is just so good, not just from Kaho but also Noguchi-sensei and the mother. Thank the jdorama gods for WOWOW. If other channels made this, Shizuka's farewell speech to her parents won't be so succinct, cold and awesome. It would probably be Takei Emi blabbing on for 15 minutes.

Continued for Part 1. I had fun looking stuff up for that post and I knew there would be writers that I would forget so here's the rest of the writers that were suggested in the comments section.

11. FUKUDA YASUSHI/ 福田靖

- Doctors
- Mayonaka no Ame / Midnight Rain
- Tadano Hitoshi
- Wonderful Life
- Change
- Galileo
- Hero

I like the first four on the list and don't really like the last 3 despite the fact that the last 3 are a lot more famous. Doctors was a really smartly written maverick doctor dorama that took all the cliches and made them fun by giving the main character a brain. I must have watched Mayonaka no Ame like 12 years ago but I remember it was a pretty good mystery thriller set in a hospital. I've written too many times about Tadano Hitoshi and Wonderful Life is decent.

12. KUDO KANKURO / 宮藤官九郎

- 11 Nin mo Iru!
- Ryusei no kizuna (Uuugggh)
- Tiger & Dragon (classic)
- Manhattan Love Story (classic)
- Kisarazu Cat's Eye
- IWGP
- Welcome to the Quiet Room
- Shonen Merikensack
- Maiko Haan!!
- Zebraman (classic)
- Drugstore Girl
- Ping Pong

That is a crazy list with my favourites being the ones marked classic. Ryusei no kizuna however is not. Kudo Kankuro writes wacky stories with people running around doing stuff. Despite the fact that Kudo Kankuro has written two doramas and I movie I love, I would not put him on the pedestal of being the best because he doesn't do heavy drama.

13. KURAMOTO SOU / 倉本聰

- Kaze no Garden
- Haikei, Chichiue-sama
- Yasashii Jikan
- Kawa itsuka umi E
- Kita no Kuni Kara
- Too many doramas and movies to list

I love Kita no Kuni Kara and Kaze no Garden is good. I know I've watched Kawa itsuka umi E but I can't remember anything. Don't think I've watched the two Nino doramas though.

14. MIKI SATOSHI / 三木聡

- Atami no sousakan
- Jikou Keisatsu
- Instant Numa
- Tenten/Adrift in Tokyo

Meh. I liked what he tried to do with Atami no sousakan but it just didn't click for me. I'm pretty sure I seen Tenten and I can't remember anything about it. Might have seen Instant Numa but not Jikou Keisatsu.

JUDGING CRITERIA

All writers have their quirks, styles and types of doramas they are good at. For me, I would look at 3 things:

1) Consistency
2) Ability to write various genres
3) Even when the casting/acting/directing is mediocre/crap, the script manages to elevate the dorama. eg Nojima Shinji for Gold and Bara no nai Hanaya.

I just can't pick an absolute favourite and I am sticking with my four way tie. Thought about Nojima Shinji cause he's got the longest list of must watch stuff but the other writers have written great doramas that Nojima Shinji doesn't normally do.

Yes, Suzuki sensei is based on a manga and I have no idea whether its a direct translation or loose adaptation but Furusato Ryota's track record shows he is a lot better writer than Hayashi Koji.

It has been a long while since a WOWOW dorama that did not end as well as it started. Well, not counting double face. Actually Shokuzai had a good last episode. Let me rephrase that, its been a while since a consistantly good WOWOW dorama. Even the great Marks no Yama dragged a bit at the end. Happy to say that episode 6 of Hitori Shizuka is beautiful in its simplicity and haunting in its beauty.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!

Hitori Shizuka is basically piecing together Shizuka through the eyes of others. We see her through other characters but she never exposes herself to the audience. The end of episode 5 is the closest that we see of an outburst from her. The fun part is figuring out her motivations. The murders and the all incidents are part of putting together this jigsaw puzzle that is Shizuka.

Shizuka was fathered by a violent yakuza who her mother left before Shizuka was born only for the mother to enter into another abusive relationship. Shizuka sees her mother attracted to the power of strong men and along with it the circle of abuse and vows not to be like her mother. After finally disposing of her mother's second abuser and getting away with it, Shizuka sets off to find herself.

Somehow she works her way to getting into her father's inner circle and sets off an event that leads her to killing her father. Revenge for Shizuka's mother or maybe Shizuka herself. Maybe revenge for ever being born. There is a sense there is no meaning to her life. Shizuka has seen the worst that people can be from a young age and she had planned to kill herself after committing patricide.

However, Shizuka stopped because of her stepsister. Something changed her mind. It could be that she didn't want to expose her stepsister to one more act of violence or perhaps it was her one redemption? Maybe by being with her sister, she could find purpose and meaning to her life. Is Shizuka doing it for love of her only relative who she feels kinship with? Is it to make sure her stepsister never comes like her? I think its just Shizuka find someone who needed her help just like her mother.

The only one complaint I have for episode 6 is that they should have spent a bit more money to make Kaho look older. During that scene with the stepsister on the swing talking to Shizuka, I got confused thinking is she really talking to Shizuka or a hallucination cause Shizuka still looks the same? I also got a bit lost when the time jump happened because one would expect an X number of years sign. Minor quibbles aside, Hitori Shizuka has been for me the best dorama of 2012. Still have to watch Makete Katsu. Went to my local Asian dvd store and their Makete Katsu does not have any subs. :(

I got this months ago along with the Mano Erina calender but never got around to posting about it. Now that 2013 is nearly here, I better get this over with. I'm not really familiar with Shinozaki Ai, only that she can actually sing better than everyone in AKB48.

The first time I actually heard about her was when Akiman, godly Street Fighter artist said she would make the perfect Chun Li and based on the picture below, if Chun Li looked like that everyone would just let her win the tournament.

Pretty boring calender. Looks so tacky and generic. Its as if the photographer is thinking with her physical gifts he can just shoot anything and she will look good. Disappointing. Should have gotten the Kurashina Kana calender.

Wanted to write a short review of this spoof series basically saying that there are funny parts it felt a bit repetitive especially with no main story this time around. While taking screencaps I realised that there are too many funny bits for me to gloss over in a few paragraphs so prepare for screencap spam!

EPISODE 4 : Horror movie spoof (pretty funny)

Fun episode. Its also when I started too think they be running out of RPG stuff to make fun off.

The best comedic moments are between Yoshihiko and Murasaki...

.. when the righteous Yoshihiko succumbs to human frailty yet still acts like a hero.

EPISODE 5 : Kinpachi sensei spoof. (funny)

If you've watched Kinpachi sensei before, this is hilarious.

EPISODE 6 : Tournament Episode (meh)

At this point it was obvious that there's no main story and its just going to be spoofing whatever. Not that Maou no Shiro had a great story but it felt more cohesive with most of the jokes about RPGs and in this episode its Crows Zero and Dragonball..... and pubic hair. Had some laughs but this episode felt tired.

Danjo saying stupid stuff with an exaggerated serious face never fails to make me laugh.

Going my Home turned out the way I was expecting it to; basically 10 episodes of Still Walking instead of a 2 hour movie. Everything about Going My Home is great except its the usual Koreeda nothing really happens or takes too long to happen. I enjoyed watching it and last episode was great but there were times I was thinking why couldn't this have been 6 episodes instead of 10? My favourite bits of the whole series were the Abe conversations with his mother and sister. I could watch them argue for an hour.

Having seen Koreeda's movies, Going My Home's lack of pace was pretty much expected. Sadly, I can't call it a must watch but it is definitely watchable. I would be interested to know whether Koreeda thought he needed 10 episodes to tell his story or whether it was a network mandated length.

EPISODE 7 Yoshihiko joins the dark side.

Yoshihiko and gang meet their doppelgangers who are actually better than them. Very funny episode with Yoshihiko joining the look alikes. Most important of all, its something that isn't a rehash from season 1.

Oh yes, nothing is funnier than a Yoshihiko putdown on Murasaki. His honesty is a a great source of comedy.

EPISODE 8 Yoshihiko loves hitozumas.

The musical episode. Sort of a repeat of the one in season 1. Still equally as fun with another great Yoshihiko and Murasaki argument. I just love how he keeps repeating hitozuma over and over.

Danjo's facial expressions are gold!

Poor Murasaki, lol.

I really hate the erase Yoshihiko's mind plot device. Its lazy and its more fun for Yoshihiko to remember what he did. After all, he is a simple and pure minded hero, pretty easy to write a stupid argument to set him back on the right path.

EPISODE 9 (meh)

Basically a collection of encounters and killer hamster joke that as gone stale. The encounters should have replaced some of the more boring ones. Waste of an episode and they should have gotten their armour from the previous ep.

EPISODE 10 Beach Boys spoof. Not bad.

Can't remember anything from Beach Boys except wondering what the big deal was. Its the 2nd last episode and its not even building up to the end.

Once again the Yoshihiko mind wipe is used. Boring. Let him remember so the others' can tease him about it, ffs!

Yoshihiko and gang encounter a bunch of dodgy looking pirates.

EPISODE 11 Final battle for the sake of having one. Meh.

Like the first season, they really spent money on the last one. Unfortunately, plot-wise it feels like an after thought.

CONCLUSION

Too many repeating jokes that don't even have a new twist on them. They obviously had a lot of fun doing this but half the time it feels like I've seen this before. This series is still watchable comedic gold, just that it feels a bit stale at times.

Nemureru Mori Jukujo is a surprisingly fun dorama about a jukujo going through a divorce and the young and rich hotel manager, nicknamed the prince who comes from one of those shojou manga aristocratic like family complete with butler. For one thing, it rises above mediocre jukujo fantasies by exploring the characters instead of making them cutboard cutouts.

The premise of Nemureru Mori Jukujo is that the hotel prince was forced to offer the jukujo a job in his hotel when encountering the drunken jukujo one night at the hotel bar as to save face. However, our jukujo is unable to remember said event and her employment benefactor wishes to stay anonymous. So we have basically the jukujo writing letters to her mysterious benefactor the prince who responds to her as well.

Now the prince while acting all perfect like is actually ill tempered and calculating. Our jukujo stumbles upon this fact and our prince is able to act like himself in front of her while they continue to trade letters. Hhmm, sounds more like a shoujo manga than a dorama aimed at hitozumas. That's probably what makes it different.

So far, the first five episodes have been an interesting. The acting is so so and some of the dialogue can be very straightfoward like a shoujo way but it never hammers point across more than necessary. How good this dorama can be depends on what happens in the second half when things get into more familiar territory. So far, very watchable. Only the first episode has been hardsubbed so far but the simplicity of the dialogue makes it easy to watch.

1. Shotenin Michiru no Mi no Uebanashi

Toda Erika and Kora Kengo in a dorama set in a small town about what happens when someone has the winning 200 million yen lottery ticket. If this were not made by WOWOW or NHK, I would not be excited. Its also got a few other WOWOW regulars in it as well. Hopefully it'll end up being an interesting dark comedy.

2. Saikou no Rikon

Eita, Ono Machiko and Maki Yoko in a dorama written by Sakamoto Yuji? My expectations for this are sky high.

3. Dinner

Eguchi Yusuke once again playing a chef in an ensemble dorama with Santamaria Yusuke and Kurashina Kana. The writer, Kuroiwa Tsutomu adapted Liar Game and Strawberry Night (ugh). He also wrote Zettai Reido 2 which I will never watch. Gonna watch this more for casting.

4. Tonbi

Uchino Masaaki and Kenshin in a father son dorama. By the writer who brought us Mr Brain, thankfully Tonbi is an adaptation of a novel. The writer Morishita Yoshiko also wrote Ruri no Shima which was pretty good and would be close in tone to Tonbi.

5. Lady Joker

When I look at the above picture, I'm hoping it will turn out to be Marks no Yama meets Hagetaka. Will definitely need subs to understand this.

6. Onna to Otokot no Nettai

Watabe Atsuro in a dark WOWOW dorama? There's your recipe for excitement! Not crazy about Fujiwara Norika but here's hoping she brings a lot of sexual tension.

7. Made in Japan

Seems to be about a Japanese company facing bankruptcy against the backdrop of the rise of China and Korea as manufacturing powers. Very relevant, definitely going to have lots of politics and I would be very lost without English subs. Someone sub this please.

In summary, I would have to say I shudder to think what the jdorama landscape would be like without WOWOW and NHK.

I kept waiting for this dorama to descend into mediocrity and every episode was a pleasant surprise at transplanting oujisama shoujo manga conventions into a housewife dorama can make things so fun to watch. If you want to make a fun dorama about a 50 year old lady and a 28 year old guy, its harder to imagine it being better than this.

Things move quickly in Nemureru Mori Jukujo and even when you get some prerequisite conventions such as all the obasans becoming friends and the typical ending, it doesn't linger too long as to make me hate them. I also really enjoyed Asakura Aki as the tsundere ojousan. I'm not a tsundere maniac but her tsundereness gets me excited. I think the biggest reason Nemureru Mori no Jukujo works is that it doesn't force the obasan and oujisama to fall in love. You could argue that they don't even actually do that. Its just two character interacting with each other in funny and entertaining ways.

Nemureru Mori no Jukujo has been a most pleasant surprise. It is the cream of the crop as for as housewife fantasy doramas and I can't believe its the same writer who did Kurosagi and Magma, two shows that had bad writing. Must watch for me and it took me a while to realise that the main actress was from Shall We Dansu?

Toda Erika plays Michiru, a bookstore employee in a small town. Her boyfriend is the son of a watch shop who gives her fishing rods for her birthday but Michuru is having an affair with a married publishing company employee from Tokyo, Toyomasu Kazuki.

Michuru fakes a toothache in order to skip work and sett Kazuki off at the bus stop but is given money to buy lottery tickets by three of her colleagues. We know from the beginning of the dorama that one of the tickets will win 200 million yen.

Michuru decides to go with Kazuki to Tokyo and is spotted by her gay childhood friend played by Kora Kengo and the episode ends with Michuru's phone ringing and her realising that she'll need to come up with a good excuse to explain her disappearance.

Way to early to say anything since the first two episodes will be set ups but I really like the whimsical feel of this dorama. The first episode is introducing all the characters surrounding Michuru and I just can't wait to see what happens when everyone finds out she's got a 200 million yen ticket.

JFF 2012: Thermae Romae

JFF 2012: Key of Life

JFF 2012: Dreams for Sale

JFF 2012: Rurouni Kenshin

Hitori Shizuka eps 2-4

Tsugunai Ep 3

Jmovie review: Ai to Makoto

Tokumei Tantei 4-9

Who is the best jdorama writer?

Hitori Shizuka ep 5

Who is the best jdorama writer? Part 2

Hitori Shizuka ep 6

Shinozaki Ai 2003 Calender

Yuusha Yoshihiko to Akuryou no Kagi 4-6

Going My Home

Yuusha Yoshihiko to Akuryou no Kagi 7-11

Nemureru Mori Jukujo eps 1-5

Winter 2013 jdoramas that should be subbed.

Nemureru Mori no Jukujo eps 6-9

Shotenin no Michiru no Mi no Uebanashi ep 1